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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day, and some of you may even be cooking one of my Thanksgiving Recipes in honor of the big feast day. This week I've been giving suggestions for using up leftover turkey, such as Turkey and Guacamole Quesadillas or Turkey and Pinto Bean White Chili. This flavorful casserole with healthy brown rice, turkey, mushrooms, sour cream, cheese, and thyme is another option for something to make with your leftover turkey, or make it with chicken if you're not cooking a turkey this year. It's been months now since I vowed to make more casseroles for the blog, and if you grew up on casseroles like I did, you'll probably like this idea to use your leftover turkey. My casserole is missing the canned soup like the ones mom used to make, and I'm using low-fat sour cream and low-fat cheese, so it's really not as decadent as it looks in the photo.

To make this recipe you'll need 2 cups cooked brown rice. I cooked a batch in my rice cooker and froze the extra rice I didn't need. The rice doesn't need to be cooled, so you can cook it right before you make the casserole if desired.

Wash mushrooms, cut into half slices, and then saute in a small amount of olive oil until the mushrooms are slightly browned and all the liquid has evaporated.

Remove the mushrooms and in the same frying pan, heat a little more olive oil, then saute chopped onion until it's starting to soften. Then add the dried thyme and poultry seasoning and saute a few minutes more.

While onions are cooking, dice up enough leftover turkey (or chicken) to make 1 1/2 - 2 cups diced turkey. I cut it into pieces about 1/2 inch.

Add the mushrooms and diced turkey (or chicken) to the pan and mix with the onion-herb mixture.

Then mix in the rice and gently stir to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and turkey (or chicken) stock, then stir in the coarsely grated parmesan and grated low-fat cheese.

Mix the sour cream mixture into the rice mixture and stir gently to combine. I'm not sure why the picture taking process broke down at this point, but you'll have to imagine there are photos here of putting the casserole mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish, baking 25 minutes, adding the second cup of low-fat cheese, and baking about 15 minutes more!

While onions cook, dice leftover turkey or chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. Add mushrooms and diced turkey into pan with the onion-herb mixture, and stir to combine. Add rice and gently stir until all the meat and vegetables are evenly distributed in the rice.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and chicken stock, then stir in coarsely grated parmesan cheese and 1 cup grated low-fat cheese. Gently stir the sour cream mixture into the rice mixture.

Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick spray or olive oil. (I'd use a relatively flat dish without a lid for this casserole.) Spoon rice mixture into the casserole dish and press down to evenly distribute. Bake for 25 minutes, or until casserole is slightly bubbling and barely starting to brown. Sprinkle with second cup of grated low-fat cheese and bake about 15 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

(Note about poultry seasoning: My poultry seasoning from Penzeys has sage, white pepper, red and green bell pepper, lemon peel, savory, rosemary, dill weed, allspice, thyme, marjoram, and ginger. If you don't have it, just use a pinch of what you have.)

With lots of low-glycemic ingredients like brown rice, mushrooms, and turkey, if you use low-fat cheese as recommended this casserole would be a good option for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. The highest fat ingredient is the parmesan cheese, so if you wanted to reduce the fat you could use less of that.

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41 comments:

Another great recipe Kalyn! I like the combination of ingredients and cant wait to try it. This year I am VERY THANKFUL for your wonderful South Beach blog and inspiration!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Deb

Oh, that looks SOOO good. I'm making a Sticky Chicken (http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/recipes/Foolproof_Sticky_Chicken.htm) instead of turkey and it has strong spices, but I may still try this recipe with the leftovers. Normally DH likes me to make Chicken Noodle Soup with it, but this time maybe I won't. ;-)

I made this using a wild rice-brown rice mixture that I like a lot. The casserole was yummy. Not as quick as Mom's cream-of- something soup method, but far tastier. And more nutritious, for sure! And DH liked it, too. Thanks, Kalyn. It's a keeper.

This was sooooo good!!! I made it for dinner last night and am having it again right now for lunch; I love it! I added a small amount of frozen peas (microwaved first) to it for a little green. I also omitted the thyme (not a fan) and poultry seasoning because I thought I had some at home while shopping, and found out I was wrong! Either way, it was still delicious! Thank you!

I found your recipe through OAMM's December menu and made it last night. It was quite yummy! My only variation was that I did not have fresh mushrooms so I used canned (and I used shredded chicken I already had in my freezer, not leftover turkey). I would make it again! Thanks!

Another winner, Kalyn! I have made this twice with great success. Husband and I both wanted to eat the whole thing. I made it a little lower fat this time than last - lower fat cheeses and sour cream - and it's still great.

Like another commenter, I used a jar of mushrooms once and fresh once. Frankly, both were great.

Trying this tonight with leftover turkey I confescated from my MIL's Christmas dinner last night. :) I'm not a fan of mushrooms, so I'm subbing in Broccoli instead. THANKS for the idea, just what I needed. :)

I made this casserole tonight with the last of our leftover turkey, and it was oh so good. My super-finicky 12-year-old daughter, who eats approximately 6 bites of food per day, actually had a full helping and said it "wasn't bad." THIS IS MONUMENTAL! My husband told me he liked it better than the actual turkey and suggested I just make this recipe for Thanksgiving next year. Thanks, Kalyn!

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